chauffeur
Americannoun
-
a person employed to drive a private automobile or limousine for the owner.
-
a person employed to drive a car or limousine that transports paying passengers.
verb (used with object)
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to drive (a vehicle) as a chauffeur.
-
to transport by car.
Saturday mornings I have to chauffeur the kids to their music lessons.
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
- chauffeuse noun
- unchauffeured adjective
- well-chauffeured adjective
Etymology
Origin of chauffeur
1895–1900; < French, equivalent to chauff(er ) to heat ( chafe ) + -eur -eur
Explanation
Do you pay someone to drive you around? Then you have a private chauffeur. Chauffeur literally means "operator of a steam engine" in French, but they used it as a nickname for the first motorists who drove steam engine cars. Today chauffeurs are just the guys you pay to drive you around, like the chauffeur of a limo. Chauffeur can also be used as a verb: once you get your driver's license, your parents will be happy to not have to chauffeur you back and forth to school.
Vocabulary lists containing chauffeur
English Words Derived from French, List 3
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List 10
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A Confederacy of Dunces
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The man needs a chauffeur more than group therapy.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2026
His father worked as a chauffeur and mechanic for the family that lived in the large house in front of their home, where his mother sometimes cooked.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
Last week, Adeniyi Kayode, 46, the chauffeur who was driving the Lexus SUV, appeared in court in Nigeria and has been charged with four offences, including causing death by dangerous driving.
From BBC • Jan. 29, 2026
The actor brought Lee the script, a reimagined take on a novel that once inspired a 1963 Akira Kurosawa film about a class divide involving a kidnapping, a businessman and a chauffeur.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 20, 2025
The chauffeur came up with a bucket full of salted ice.
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
